BroadwayWorld.com Malaysia Stories

IP MAN THE MUSICAL to Debut in Singapore in 2014?

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 16:23:22 PST

Ip Man the Musical just completed its introductory showcase at the Kallang Theatre in Singapore on the 12th June 2013. The show has been formally approved by government agencies such as Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB) with their aim to promote the Singapore musical industry, through knowledge transfer and capabilities development, ensuring the commitment to continue in growing Singapore talents as well as the Asia region.

Since gaining much awareness in the musical industry and its successful showcase at Marina Bay Sands in June 2011, Ip Man the Musical has officially announced that its production will premiere in Singapore 4th quarter next year by leveraging Singapore's performing arts capabilities and infrastructure to create, develop and premiere the world-class musical for global release.

The company behind this production, W Squared Live Entertainment, has decided to set up its headquarters in Singapore. This is due to the growth of Singapore as a lifestyle destination, maturity in theatre consumption as an Asian market and its strategic and unique Pan-Asian perspective valued by the international musical theatre community - which led to the decision to premiere a Chinese story in English for global consumption.

Mr. Robert Vicencio, Producer, said: "Singapore was an obvious choice to develop the musical as being one of the four financial dragons of Asia with enormous financial power to ensure the sucessful operations and execution of such a large-scale project. Additionally, with a high growth in tourism, Singapore has the attributes of becoming the musical centre of Asia similar to Broadway in New York and the West End in London."

"W Squared Live Entertainment's choice of Singapore for their world premiere performance speaks volumes of our robust arts infrastructure and growing reputation as a centre for world-class entertainment. As visitors to Singapore become increasingly discerning, it is vital that Singapore continues to offer original content and experiences that will resonate with them. Ip Man the Musical, with its stellar team and engaging story-line, will add significantly to Singapore's own broad and diverse entertainment calendar." said Ms. Lynette Pang, Executive Director for Arts & Entertainment and F1 & Sports, Singapore Tourism Board (STB).

"We are pleased that W Squared Live Entertainment has chosen to locate its headquarters in Singapore to create, develop and premiere a world-class musical. The international creative team will work with Singapore talent to leverage Singapore as a platform to develop and launch the musical globally. This validates Singapore's attraction as a base for lifestyle companies to develop, grow and manage their businesses. " said Ms. Kow Ree Na, Director of Lifestyle Programme Office, Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB).

An international creative team has been assembled to develop the musical with an aim to not only evoke but enhance local audiences' musical perception and appreciation, but to enrich audience's entertainment choices by filling a gap for Chinese content in the musical world.

Mr. John Robertson, Senior International Production Consultant, said: "The immense challenge of bringing Ip Man the Musical to life - for Singaporean audiences - and then having it transfer to other territories around the world, requires vision on an unprecedented scale. I believe we have the best writers on board for this project. Producers Robert and Hongming have assembled a great team for this journey and together, we support them in this adventure by bringing to the world, the first original new musical based on the life of a martial arts grandmaster, with a wonderful story about China and the Ip family which will thrill audiences around the world."

Co-composer, Mr. Martin Koch, who hails from London with experiences such as the London Olympics, Mamma Mia!, Les Miserables and Miss Saigon, admits it is the first time for him to compose a Chinese themed project: "I am thrilled at the prospect of working on Ip Man. The unique challenges this piece presents are both exciting and imaginative. It is a great honour to be working on what will become a culturally significant piece of theatre."

Mr. Raymond Wong, Producer of the movie series, Ip Man 1 & Ip Man 2, added: "We are proud to see a Chinese martial arts movie being adapted into a musical and shown to the whole world in English."

Finally, Ip Man's son, Ip Ching, who is unable to make it to the press event, but is delighted to be involved in this project added: "I find musicals very special and have never been involved in one before. What is important is that this production will be able to share the story of martial art form, Wing Chung, to the entire world. Hence, it is a must for me to support this rare opportunity."

From the string of movies and their various incarnations of the legendary master, the most obvious question on everybody's mind would be on who will play Ip Man in the musical production. The producers have decided to keep this piece of information strictly confidential, only revealing that the identity will soon be announced in due course.

Additionally, the press conference will introduce various strategic partners for the production, including Taiwan's Flysound-who will be supplying Audio Equipment; Japan's Lateensail multimedia support and from Singapore, local strategic partners including Lasalle College of the Arts in facilitating a student workshop of the musical, BIO channel (A+E Network) creating a 6 episode documentary, Republic Polytechnic supporting with their video production capabilities and Zaobao.com with their strategic marketing.

In line with W Squared Live's exploration with multi-platform marketing strategies, a cooperation with Nokia was formulated aiming to bring elements of the musical to a new generation of mobile-savvy consumers. "The story of Ip Man echoes Nokia's brand personality. It is an uplifting story that is both authentic and full of adventure. We are excited to work with Ip Man the Musical", says Mr. Tay Eng Wah, Head of Marketing for Nokia Singapore.

W Squared Live is managed by international & local industry experts, producing an original Chinese story-based musical for the global markets. Pioneering and leading the China musical and entertainment industry, which providing unique and professional services to our clients and creative and unparalleled ideas for our clients. W Squared Live is focusing on details, complete customer service and satisfaction. With the theatre world currently looking for new content and the already widespread phenomenon of Martial Arts through movies and schools globally, the concept of Ip Man the Musical was strategically formulated to answer these beckoning calls.

Voting Opens for the 2013 BroadwayWorld Awards! Vote Now for the Best of the 2012-13 Theatre Season...

Thu, 02 May 2013 15:39:40 PST

The Tony Awards nominators had their say earlier this week and now it's your turn! We're pleased to announce that voting has now opened for the 11th Annual BroadwayWorld.com Awards!

Once again last year, hundreds of thousands of theatregoers and fans weighed in, breaking site traffic records and further solidifying the BroadwayWorld.com Awards place as the largest and most popular online Broadway polling event of its kind, open to all and with fully visible and audited results. Voting is open through May 31, 2013.

Click Here to Vote Now!

Bruce Kimmel's OUTSIDE THE BOX Web TV Series to Air Exclusively on BroadwayWorld.com

Mon, 19 Nov 2012 10:56:50 PST

BroadwayWorld.com, the largest theatre web site on the net, is thrilled to announce the newest addition to its line-up of exclusive, engaging, star-filled TV programs. To get fans caught up, and fired up for the new show, the entire first season's episodes begin airing now, with Season 2 slated to premier November 25, followed by it's regular presentation schedule of every other Sunday. (Click Here to Watch!)

Bruce Kimmel's OUTSIDE THE BOX will join such popular BroadwayWorld TV offerings as BACKSTAGE WITH Richard Ridge, CHEWING THE SCENERY WITH Randy Rainbow and the second season of the hit series SUBMISSIONS ONLY, which earned a spot on Entertainment Weekly's MUST LIST, and hailed as "Brilliant" by New York Magazine.

"We couldn't be more excited to begin airing Bruce Kimmel's web series" said Editor-in-Chief Robert Diamond, "I've been a fan of the series and the concept since the first episode and can't wait for our audience to join in the fun."

"We began the series on YouTube" said creator Bruce Kimmel "and now are excited to expose it to an even larger, dedicated audience of theatre fans worldwide via BroadwayWorld.com".

Season two kicks off with the first episode, starring Hal Linden, Jenna Rosen, Jane Noseworthy and Sharon McNight and will feature six brand new episodes about a very outré musical theatre group who do musicals that are, well, just wrong. Each episode features an entirely new cast, save for one recurring character, the director of the group, Stephen Findle and each episode features between one and three musical numbers. Season two's episodes feature Hal Linden (The Rothschilds, Barney Miller), Euan Morton (Tony nominee for Taboo; Sondheim on Sondheim), Adrian Zmed (Grease; Grease 2; Blood Brothers), John Sloman (Mad Men), Jenna Rosen, Jane Noseworthy, Angel Reda, Sharon McNight, Sami Staitman, Lisa Livesay, and more. Outside The Box is shot on location in New York and Los Angeles.

Written and directed by Bruce Kimmel, each episode features songs by Kimmel – the Outside The Box theme is by Grant Geissman, composer of Two-And-A-Half Men and Mike and Molly. Kimmel wrote and directed the cult comedy classic film, The First Nudie Musical, and is a long-time Grammy-nominated record producer, having produced over 180 albums, including cast albums (The King and I, Hello, Dolly, Bells Are Ringing, I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change, etc.), concept albums (Lost In Boston, Unsung Musicals), singers (including Petula Clark, Helen Reddy, Liz Callaway, Laurie Beechman, Judy Kuhn, Judy Kaye, Rebecca Luker, Brent Barrett, Jason Graae, Michelle Nicastro, Christiane Noll, and many others), as well as a historic series of jazz cover versions of Sondheim shows with The Trotter Trio. His label Kritzerland releases two new CDs every month.

Click Here to Watch!

Voting Open for 2012 BWW Regional Awards - Vote Now!

Sun, 18 Nov 2012 09:00:51 PST

Election season is officially behind us in politics, but now it's time to vote for our 3rd Annual BWW Regional Awards!

After a record number of nominations in 30 regions worldwide, and careful proofing by our local editors, we are VERY excited to announce that voting has begun for this year's BWW Regional Awards. It's our BIGGEST EVER!

Voting is now open and in most regions will run through Dec. 31, 2012. Winners will be announced in early January. You can only vote once, so make your vote count! As always, we'll provide open live statistics throughout the awards so make sure to check back often.

Click the link below to vote for your favorites!

Wisdom Digital Media Announces Spin-Off from BroadwayWorld.com of New Web Sites Dedicated to Movies, TV, Fashion, Books, Music, Opera & More!

Thu, 08 Nov 2012 15:00:29 PST

10 New Sites Launch Devoted to Arts, Culture, Fashion & Entertainment

Wisdom Digital Media, parent company of BroadwayWorld.com, the largest theatre web site on the net, today announced the official spinoff and launch of 10 new entertainment web sites including BWWMoviesWorld.com, BWWTVWorld.com, BWWFashionWorld.com, BWWBooksWorld.com, BWWMusicWorld.com, BWWArtWorld.com, BWWComedyWorld.com, BWWDanceWorld.com, BWWClassicalWorld.com and BWWOperaWorld.com.

"We launched many of these sites as subsections of BroadwayWorld.com" explained CEO Robert Diamond "because of the increasing intersection between the stage and other areas of entertainment. After witnessing explosive traffic growth across the board, we decided to tap into, and exploit each market's full potential by launching them as their own comprehensive websites. We will take what we've learned from nearly 10 years of leading theatre coverage and apply it to these other major areas of entertainment."

Each site will have a dedicated Editor-in-Chief, fully supervising content along with a team of newsdesk managers, photographers, photo editors, video crews, advertising sales teams, and more. Already, new site teams are working closely together, offering both media and sales opportunities across different outlets with distinct audiences, demographics, and targets.

"We've already begun to run both editorial exclusives and advertising programs" said Miles Silverman, VP of Sales and Marketing "that target a more general TV or Film audience focused on big stars and pop culture, as well live theatre's coveted upscale, highly affluent consumer audience. The response thus far has been extraordinarily positive as advertisers are increasingly interested in reaching multiple audiences via one reliable publisher for maximum cost efficiency."

All of BroadwayWorld.com's market-leading features including Mobile Sites, Message Boards, Twitter Watch, Photo Flashes, Video Coverage, Exclusive Interviews and more, along with the best news team in the business will be launched across the board to service each individual entertainment category. Additionally, the sites will share a registration system, so one login will work across all the web sites, allowing fans to seamlessly jump into conversations across the board.

Over the coming weeks, BWWComedyWorld.com, BWWDanceWorld.com, BWWMusicWorld.com and BWWClassicalWorld.com will offer regional subsections devoted to the top 25 markets around the world for each genre.

Wisdom Digital Media

Wisdom Digital Media Publishing launched in 2001 and its first flagship site, BroadwayWorld.com in 2003. BroadwayWorld is the largest theatre site on the Internet covering Broadway, the West End and beyond to 100 US cities, and 35 countries worldwide. With over 3.5 million monthly visitors, BroadwayWorld delivers complete up-to-the-minute Broadway, off-Broadway, and regional theatre news, in-depth interviews, extraordinary photo coverage, entertaining video features, lively message boards, ticket discounts, reviews, and more.

Contacts:

Editorial
Robert Diamond
CEO
robert@wisdomdigital.com
914-623-8689

Advertising
Miles Silverman
VP Sales & Marketing
miles@wisdomdigital.com
914-214-8177

BWW World Premiere EXCLUSIVE: Michael Crawford and Susan Boyle Duet on 'The Music of the Night'!

Wed, 31 Oct 2012 14:41:59 PST

A few weeks ago, we premiered Donny Osmond and Susan Boyle singing 'This is the Moment' and we're back to bring you another exclusive first listen to a second highly-anticipated duet from her upcoming album - 'The Music of the Night!' Featuring original Phantom star Michael Crawford himself alongside Boyle, it's a must-listen!

“The Music of the Night” is from Boyle’s new album, “Standing Ovation,” which will be released November 13 (click here to pre-order). Boyle has reached international stardom and sold over 18 million albums in the just three years. “Standing Ovation” showcases duets with both Michael Crawford and her lifelong idol, Donny Osmond and is filled with songs from her favorite shows.

Most recently seen on the West End stage in The Wizard of Oz, and long overdue for a Broadway return, Michael Crawford had established himself as one of London's finest leading men long before he opened as "the Phantom" in Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera beginning one of the most widely acclaimed and memorable performances in theatre history. Few stars are as widely connected to a single role as Crawford is to "the Phantom." His Los Angeles and Broadway performances earned an astonishing catalogue of critical recognition including the Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards, and the Los Angeles Dramalogue Award and Drama Critics Award.

Since leaving "Phantom" after nearly four years in the role in London, New York and Los Angeles; Crawford has become a multi-platinum recording artist and one of the worlds's most sought after concert and stage performers, playing to sold-out venues around the globe. In addition to his recent concert work, stage credits in London and on Broadway include Billy, Flowers for Algernon, Black Comedy, Dance of the Vampires and Barnum.

(Photo - Rex Features)

Click Here to Play!

BroadwayWorld's Industry Leading App Just Updated for iPhone 5!

Fri, 05 Oct 2012 09:00:51 PST

We were the first Broadway app on the market back in 2009. The world has come a long way since then and our apps have too!

Just a few weeks back, Apple released their iPhone 5, with a bigger and better than ever screen and now, BroadwayWorld.com's App has been optimized to take full advantage of it. The screen now fits more news, more posts -- and even more great Broadway (and beyond) content.

If you already downloaded our new app, which was released just in time for the Tonys, you'll have received the update automatically via the App Store. New users can click the links below.

BWW's new apps were completely redesigned from the ground-up and release in June and feature all of our news, content, videos, show listings, message boards, special offers, radio channel, search features, regional news and lots more - all updated in real-time!

Get the New Apps Now!

BroadwayWorld Releases Updates for iPhone, iPad & Android Apps!

Fri, 06 Jul 2012 15:57:20 PST

We were the first Broadway app on the market back in 2009. The world has come a long way since then and our apps have too!

If you already downloaded our new apps which were released just in time for the Tonys, you'll have received the updates automatically via the App Store.

Today, July 6, we've released updates to our applications for the iPhone, iPad and Android devices which now feature an improved login system (login once and forget it), multitasking improvements, speed improvements, an updated player for BWW radio, access to your BWIDB Personalized News Feed and other miscellaneous fixes and enhancements.

Get the New Apps Now!

BWW Seeks Editors in Select Areas Worldwide

Mon, 09 Jul 2012 09:00:51 PST

The theater-lover knows no holiday and BroadwayWorld is in full summer swing, with many exciting features, expanded coverage, new mobile apps and more on the plate. Larger now than ever before, BroadwayWorld has opened up new contributing editor positions in select locations worldwide and we invite YOU to apply to become part of our international network of published authors!

All applicants should have excellent writing skills and an interest in giving local theaters and productions some prominence on BroadwayWorld.com -- the largest theater site on the net.

As a Contributing Editor, you will have the opportunity to review the shows of your choice, conduct interviews with local and touring talent, design features of your own choosing for publishing, and work/network with your local theater press reps to bring exposure to the theatrical offerings in your area.

Your compensation as a featured writer with us not only includes exclusive press seats to all of the shows you cover (as is standard in your area and arranged between you and the theater) but also the opportunity to be published under your own byline and publishing profile on both the local and main pages of the site for maximum exposure to our 3M+ monthly visitors.

The position offers flexible hours and the convenience of working remotely from your hometown. (**Access to New York City is NOT necessary**). There are no administrative duties associated with the contributorship. You simply see the shows, meet the talent, and write on your own time and terms! (Note that some theaters require a specific publishing turnaround which you will negotiate on a case-by-case basis).

To inquire about covering your area, please send a resumé and one writing sample to Jessica Lewis at jessica@broadwayworld.com.

NEW! Slew of Feedback Driven Updates Added for Personalized BroadwayWorld DB - News, Recommendations & More!

Fri, 13 Jul 2012 11:38:15 PST

The BroadwayWorld DB, launched back in 2005, is by far the largest theatre database on the net, covering the world of Broadway and beyond, including more than 150 cities, 280,000+ performers, 300,000+ photos, 60,000+ productions & growing by the minute.

In 2011, we unveiled complete regional listings and BWW DB Pro, which empowers theatre pros to add/update credits and bios, post photos and videos, promote events and lots more.

Most recently, in late May, BWW announced that we'd taken our biggest leap forward yet - introducing the brand-new personalized BroadwayWorld DB homepage which allows you to build your own BWW DB homepage with recommendations of related stars/shows, a custom news feed featuring content JUST about your favorites, personalized email newsletters and more.

Since then, usage has exploded (thank you!) and our suggestion box has been filling up as well. Here's some of the features that you asked for, and we delivered!

Accuracy - We've fixed a few bugs and tweaked a few algorithms and article results are now returned up to the second.
Filters - Under 'Your Preferences', you can now select to only receive English language content, only receive major Broadway/Off-Broadway/West End News, or *everything*!
Speed - A lot of you complained that certain pages were loading slowly, and that you wanted to see news updates faster. Well, we've done both and all pages are now much snappier, loading up to 600% faster and articles are now updating in real-time as well.
Ease of Use - OK, maybe we had a few too many clicks to set up your profile the first go-round, but ... not anymore! Now, you'll see brand new recommendation boxes on both your BWDB Homepage and on individual show and performer pages as well. With one click, you can now add shows/performers right onto your list.
This Person/Show Does NOT Interest Me - With one click of the 'X', you can now also mark that you are non-interested in someone/something and they will be removed from your recommendations list.
More Colorful, Easier to Spot Buttons - We've made them bigger and bolder!
RSS Support - Want to subscribe to your personalized news in the RSS reader of your choice? You've now got your own XML feed as well.
Message Board Profile Integration - Want to see who your friends are following? You can log in and visit anyone's profile to see their picks, and with one click, add each to yours!

Mobile Support - Now as part of BWW's iPhone, iPad and Android Apps, you can access your news by clicking on the news tab, and picking your personalized page. Sign in one and keep checking back for updates on your favorites!

Click here to get started!

Much More to Come and Keep the Feedback Coming...